Like the 9/11 terror attacks that occurred nearly six decades later, the Pearl Harbor attack became both a rallying point of patriotism, and the subject of intense controversy. Both attacks had been conceived as decisive actions that would result in the immobilization and demoralization of America, effectively removing her as dominant force; first in the Pacific Rim in 1941, and in the Middle East and Persia in 2001. And as we now know, both attacks failed utterly in this ultimate objective.

The Japanese made two critical errors. First, their intelligence failed to alert them that the aircraft carriers Lexington and Enterprise were away from Pearl Harbor, thus robbing the Japanese of the chance to destroy both the battleships and aircraft carriers in the Pacific Fleet. (At the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, The USS Yorktown was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, and the USS Saratoga was stateside, having just completed an overhaul at the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington.) They also decided against launching a third attack wave, which could have potentially destroyed the island's dry dock and maintenance facilities, thereby keeping the backbone of the Pacific Fleet out of service for up to a year.

The second Japanese error was diplomatic. Admiral Yamamoto, supreme commander of the Japanese Navy, had decreed that the attack should not begin until thirty minutes after the Japanese consulate in Washington, D. C. had delivered a message to the Americans stating that peace negotiations between the two nations had been formally suspended. Yamamoto hoped to avoid the impression of a surprise attack while the Japanese, at least formally, were still engaged in peace negotiations. Unfortunately, diplomats at the Japanese consulate spent hours decoding and translating the message, and it did not reach Secretary of State Cordell Hull until well after the attack had commenced.

Immediately following the attack, a number of Americans publicly argued that, given the well-known brutality, ruthlessness, and efficiency of the Japanese military, the United States should have expected an attack, and should have spared no effort to protect obvious targets such as Midway Island, Wake Island, the Philipine Islands, and Pearl Harbor. Others felt that the Roosevelt Administration should not have taken a hard line against the Japanese, arguing instead that careful negotiations could have prevented war. Most agreed that the US had been caught proverbially with its pants down, with an under-trained and poorly equipped military hampered by obsolete equipment and outdated war planning.

President Roosevelt moved quickly to rally a previously-reluctant America behind the war effort, and immediately commissioned an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Pearl Harbor attack. The first commission report, chaired by Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts and published on January 23, 1942, exonerated the War Department and the Roosevelt Administration and placed the blame on Lt. Gen. Walter Short, commanding Army officer at Pearl Harbor, and on Admiral H. E. Kimmel, Commander in Chief of the US Navy Pacific Fleet.

After the tide of the war had turned in favor of the United States, more Americans began speaking out about Pearl Harbor. When rumors that America had actually intercepted the Japanese attack orders began swirling, significant public unrest became noticeable. Books such as John Flynn's The Truth About Pearl Harbor ignited a new series of questions, and in 1944 President Truman authorized the first of a series of government commissions, military inquiries and Congressional hearings that ran through 1947. The 1944 Navy inquiries exonerated Admiral Kimmel to some extent, pointing out that Kimmel's preparedness had been heavily dependent upon "advance knowledge that an attack was to be expected," and that the War Department had not made such an imminent threat clear. And the Army's hearings also shifted much of the blame back to Washington D. C., concluding that Gen. George C. Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff, had failed to keep Gen. Short adequately informed.

The Joint Congressional Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack opened its hearings on November 15, 1945 and wrapped up its activities on May 31, 1946. It was a highly partisan affair, with majority Democrats working feverishly to preserve the legacy of FDR. But a tenacious minority committee of Republicans succeeded in extracting a significant amount of "inconvenient" testimony that seriously contradicted the 1942 Roberts report. The Minority Report, published separately, stated that President Roosevelt was directly responsible for "the failure to enforce continuous, efficient, and appropriate cooperation among the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, the Chief of Staff (General Marshall), and the Chief of Naval Operations (Admiral Stark) in evaluating information and dispatching clear and positive orders to the Hawaiian commanders as events indicated the growing imminence of war."

Today there is an active, vocal minority of Americans who believe that the Bush Administration either had advanced warnings that Al Qaeda was preparing to commit the 9/11 attacks, or planned and carried out the attacks themselves, using innocent Americans as pawns and Al Qaeda as a convenient scapegoat, so that the United States could invade the Middle East and steal its rich petroleum reserves. In retrospect, however, the evidence linking the Pearl Harbor attack to a combination of senior-level military incompetence and shrewd political planning by the Roosevelt Administration is far stronger and much more convincing that the evidence presented by so-called "9/11 Truthers" linking the Bush Administration to the 9/11 attacks. Virtually everything presented by the Truthers has either been thoroughly debunked, or remains unconvincingly ambiguous.

It is also worth noting that during the 1940's, the nation at large never failed to support its armed forces to the fullest extent possible. While books like The Truth About Pearl Harbor and Pearl Harbor: The Story of the Secret War certainly led many Americans to feel somewhat betrayed by their government, the nation remained committed to winning a military victory over the Japanese. Americans were well aware of the fact that Japan had ruthlessly gobbled up much of the Pacific Rim during the 1930's, and they understood that the West would have been seriously endangered by an American surrender or defeat. Criticism of the US Government appeared only after the tide of the war had been turned in our favor.

Those of us who love history know that there is no such thing as a perfect war. Although history often makes heroes of the commanders who are eventually victorious, virtually all of them make serious errors in diplomacy or tactics that cost the lives of untold thousands of troops and civilians. Even though we remember it as a "good war," World War II was no exception to that rule. Yet the country rallied around its fighting men and succeeded in vanquishing a foe (fascism) that was as great an existential threat as anything we have ever faced. I am hopeful that future generations of Americans will ignore the bitter, unhinged political hatred and partisanship that has stained the War on Terror, and will instead recognize the dedication and sacrifice of our armed forces in their ongoing fight to preserve liberty and spread democracy throughout the world.

May we continue to honor and support those from each generation who have dedicated -- and given -- their lives in defense of our nation.

Most agreed that the US had been caught proverbially with its pants down, with an under-trained and poorly equipped military hampered by obsolete equipment and outdated war planning.

As back then and with now, the congress pinch pennied the military to almost to be non-existent. Of course, it was the Democrats who were leading the pack to do this. If the politicians and top brass had listened to George Patton and a few other officers, things would have been a lot easier. There would have been a trained and equipped army and navy to counter any moves that the German and Japanese made. This would have shortened the war by at least 6 months in both theaters of operations.

Actually, the Washington talks were not so much about peace as they were about Japanese diplomatic efforts to reverse the ban on any steel or metal shipments to Japan that President Roosevelt declared in the wake of their agression towards China and other Asian nations. Because of the Japanese agression in Asia, there were heavy tensions towards the two nations, but the U.S. did not expect the sneak attack at Pearl Harbor which was still a huge military victory for Japan despite the fact that the valuable American aircraft carriers were away at the time.

The Japanese Navy largely consisted of many old American and British ships sold mainly as scrap retrofited as warships, however it was Japan's own aircraft carrier fleet that was a powerful weapon until this fleet was destroyed at the Battle Of Midway.

American intelligence was primitive and badly flawed in the 1940's, which allowed Japan so much success. Today satellites would detect a large fleet of ships coming towards any nation. However the latest threat appears to be from silent running Chinese and Russian submarines, and the unfortunate help of Toshiba machine in Japan that helped both navies achieve this. Both Chinese and Russian subs have proven the ability to hover very close to American warships for as long as two weeks before they were finally detected, which isn't a good issue in the ongoing battle for the U.S. to maintain some sort of technical advantage over these rival powers.

Paul said, "The Japanese Navy largely consisted of many old American and British ships sold mainly as scrap retrofitted as warships..."

The Japanese led the world in warship design and their battleships, cruisers and destroyers were some of the best, if not the best in the world, prior to 1943. Only one capital ship in the WWII IJN was built in England, the Kongo, and she was built to Japanese specifications. She was a profound embarrassment to the English because she was so far superior to any comparable ship in the Grand Fleet.

Including such "non-facts" in your analysis casts doubt on everything else you said.

When it comes to WWII history, I recommend "Ballantine's Illustrated History" books of WWII. Good used book stores still stock them for about $5 each. They are quick reads and cover their subject matter well.

Marc:
During WWII, there were no Republican groups who stood out in front of military recruiting stations and tried to talk the young men and women out of signing up.

tyree, to cover the history behind Pearl Harbor in detail would have necessitated considerably much more that I felt was reasonable to write here. Japan's conquest of the Pacific Rim was simply classical imperialism -- Japan was an island nation with very strong ambition and limited natural resources, so they primarily conquered nations with the resources that they needed; they also conquered and brutalized traditional rivals and enemies in order to inspire fear. America recognized the threat that Japan posed, both immediately and as a potential imperial power controlling the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and Australia.

In an attempt to force Japan to withdraw from China and French Indochina (modern-day Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos) the Roosevelt administration enacted a trade embargo covering steel, raw petroleum, and refined petroleum products. It was much more efficient to purchase these items from America, and Japan desperately needed them. To make a long story short, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor (and Wake Island, the Philippines, and Midway Island) in order to cripple America's ability to enforce its embargoes, thereby forcing America to accept a "peace" negotiation according to terms dictated by Japan.

I believe that Roosevelt attempted to clearly outline his administration's positions, and sought to have the public understand why the US opposed Japanese aggression. Even though America was strongly non-interventionist before Pearl Harbor, I believe that most Americans clearly understood that we simply could not continue to placate or appease Japan.

Roosevelt knew that his firm opposition to Japan's imperialist aggression would sooner or later lead to war. I don't believe that Roosevelt deliberately "tricked" Japan into attacking the United States, nor do I believe that FDR and the War Department secretly conspired to undermine US defenses in the Pacific in order to further vilify the Japanese by maximizing America's losses during such an attack.

The Pearl Harbor attack was the result Japan's thirst for domination and the Roosevelt Administration's conviction that such aggression should be stopped, and its success was due to careful planning on the part of the Japanese Navy and a series of serious (though most likely unintentional) blunders by the Roosevelt Administration, the War Department, the State Department, and military commanders in the Pacific.

However, in retrospect the 1942 Roberts Commission report clearly appears to be a textbook example of Roosevelt administration's skill at manipulation, done solely for the purpose of bolstering the nation's morale. Such a naked attempt at propaganda would never be tolerated today; likewise, the report was challenged as soon as it appeared that we had gained the upper hand in our battle with Japan.

That distinction between the 1940's and today is of utmost importance. Sixty years ago, we were focused on winning, and we were largely able to put politics aside and focus on victory. Five years ago, Democrats were focused on destroying the George W. Bush at any cost, and deliberately set out to undermine every domestic and foreign policy of the Bush Administration, hoping to achieve as many epic fails as possible during the course of their efforts.

The lesson is simple -- it's necessary and healthy to have a minority that can form a "loyal opposition" dedicated to keeping the majority honest. Party agitprop and legacy preservation aren't novel ideas in politics, and such maneuvers should be challenged when there is significant contradictory evidence. But such opposition does not necessitate the bitter partisan politics and deliberate attempts to trigger failure that we have seen during the last five years. We are in a much better position to argue specifics after we have been united in victory against a common foe.

How do so many Christian's fall for this rapture and mark of the beast theory?

We have learned that several million Christians failed to vote in the last election. I have learned that end times doomsday theology has a great influence on the mindset of many Christians today. A church having nearly a million members is now claiming that December 14th will be the beginning of the tribulation period, to be sounded by a trump. I could not influence a lot of such people to even vote this year! Why? It is a contradiction to their religious convictions to vote when according to them, America has already been judged by God.

Why vote?
What was their hang up? Why vote if Christian's are caught up in a rapture to heaven, and the anti Christ will dominate the world according to prophecy? The most frightening thing is that the popular 2012 date for the rapture is spreading like wild fire! It may draw many more Christians into a doomsday mentality, potentially hurting the next election even more so.

The conservative balance of power may be determined by such critical voters who may determine America's future. We need them to stay loyal to America and not the Rapture! What is wrong with this anti-christ beast Idea? Look at Waco Texas, and David Koresh, and Jim Jones, and others. Normal human beings can be drawn into abnormal behavior by creating strong religious convictions using a doomsday theology! This hidden enemy exists within our center, it may be doing far more harm than the entire liberal media against our conservative cause.

Revelation 15:2 clearly states that the mark of the beast is something Christians must personally overcome to gain the victory through the blood of the lamb? This description and obvious wording in the Bible seem to identify mans fallen nature, not some computer implant which many wrongly speculate. Did Christ die for our sins, or did he die for computer implants? Is this not a ridiculous theology which millions of Christians have fallen for?. Here are some rational truth's concerning this subject taken directly from the same Bible.

The original mark originated with Cain, in the Old Testament. Cain killed his brother Abel and sought to cover his sin, by hiding his murderous crime. God asked where is thy brother? Cain said, I know not, am I my brothers keeper? Cain was marked after becoming the very example of satanic behavior God detests.

God then cursed the works of Cain's hand's, the ground he tilled no longer brought forth her strength. In other word's a bad economy then followed the mark. Can we not identify this mark as Gods curse upon Cain's right handed works? Why? Cain had yielded himself to Satan's power,not bringing forth good fruits, breaking Gods commandments.

It was Satan who was symbolized in the Bible as the cursed beast (the Serpent) in the Garden of Eden. A type of snake bite, a beastly mark identifying a sin mindset in which Satan injected into mans nature was being depicted.

Later we learn in the New Testament that people who follow Cain like nature are also called beasts. "Jude 1.

"

The Bible gives us an even clearer example of this mark when Joseph's brothers sought to kill Joseph, and sell him as a slave into Egypt. The brothers hid this terrible sin from Jacob their father, by killing a wild beast and placing animal's blood upon Joseph's coat of many colors. How? By using an actual beasts bloodstain. The brothers then lied to Jacob, by showing Jacob Joseph's famous coat with the marked bloodstain, this evidence convinced Jacob that his birthright son was truly dead. The secret plan Jacob knew not, was that the mark upon Joseph's coat was really the "mark of the beast" and not from Josephs torn up body .

The mark of the beast becomes a deception which hides and removes Gods will, and replaces Gods will with Satan's deception and plan. It was Gods will that Joseph become the birthright son. Suddenly, Joseph is removed from sight by the hidden cover up, The mark of a wild beast literally hid the lie, and removed true authority.

The brothers had sold Joseph to the Egyptians for money. Thus, buying and selling the beastly mark through deception for worldly gain. The interpretation of an anti Christ is to remove Christ's will, and then replace it with the mark of the beast, or Satan's power. God was being sold out through the lie, coming from a secret combination.

When Nebuchadnezzar forced the world to worship his golden God in Babylon, he used the power of the state to replace the true authority by again using a calculated manufactured lie.

Nebuchadnezzar also used Gold (money) to build his God, selling out any value to worship the true God. Again, replacing Christ's will with Satan's deceptive mark. Babylon today represents any government system which rewards selfishness by removing the true God.

After Nebuchadnezzar imposed his sin of pride using his political authority, God cursed Nebuchadnezzar transforming him into the nature of a wild beast. (Read Daniel chapter four.) Nebuchadnezzar was marked like unto Cain, removed from men, acting inhuman like a wild beast.

In other word's, Babylon is a state of mind which destroys our own humanity!

Nebuchadnezzar finally repented after going through a terrible withdrawal process for 7 years, removing him from his evil addiction for power. The 666 number in scripture clearly identifies Nebuchadnezzar's golden statue by its dimensions and exact size. The statue was gold, which represents Nebuchadnezzar himself who represented the golden statue as recorded by Daniel. "Daniel 2." King Nebuchadnezzar was literally the 600 BC man. The entire ancient world represents his power being given to one single man in 600 BC.

His giant golden image was carefully measured and recorded by Daniel being 60 cubits high and 6 cubits wide. "Daniel 3:1″. This biblical event marked the Babylonian attempt to replace God with six hundred and three score and six man. The 600 BC man was Nebuchadnezzar himself, being enlarged into a huge statue almost a hundred feet tall. Babylon is about a little man trying to become a great big man through earthly means.

The world did have the media in Nebuchadnezzar's day to make one self larger than life. This huge golden image represented a man seeking to reach a Godly status by becoming larger, more visible to the entire world. This explains why John instructs believers to count the number of the beast, to find the hidden man. Is the true measure of a man not measured by the inflated image he creates for the world to view through his beastly pride? Or, is that not the measure of his beastly image! The true measure of the man is obscured from our view. Nebuchadnezzar's image was 666. "Daniel: 3-1″.

The true man was hidden from our view by sin until he became humble. "Daniel 4" "Revelation 13:18." In other words, you can find the answer to the world's greatest Bible mystery 666, being directly recorded inside your very own family Bible. The search is now over...
God actually frees the beast of Babylon from his evil mark when Nebuchadnezzar repents. Evil men today are seeking to remove our God given American freedoms by replacing "one nation under God" through state supported socialism, in order to make slaves of free Americans. It is the same spirit of Babylon returning again today. Fallen man seeks to make his image larger in the world through political means, in order to remove God, replacing God with a false god of gold purchased with our own money under a state decree. The new god becomes mans authority through the state. Remember the golden calf was the image of a beast in Moses day! The golden beast god was created by collecting the people's wealth.

Once again, they are setting up a God of gold using our money to pay for it. Why? Is it not to force us to worship this golden God of the state, or be fired, removed or destroyed through political correctness? No man or no women will be able to buy nor sell, hold a job, unless they contribute to this god of Babylon being forced through higher taxation, personal loyalty and works. We now witness a state, growing within a state, within our nation. Look at the bailouts and the national debt being the mark of Babylon's God. No one is calling for legal hearings to place Kriss Dodd and Barney Frank in prison after creating this world economic crisis. Instead, They and their friends have been placed in charge of this bail out money with our economy...Every man, every women, and every child born today, including the unborn, must pay for an out of control national debt bringing America into a modern Babylonian bondage. Untold billions of our money is to transfers directly into the social democrats hands, to transform America into a predatory beast. The secret plan must change America into one nation under their liberal god. This is the true anti Christ nobody is yet looking for happening directly in front of us..
It is another god of gold, like unto the 666 god in 600 BC! This god is now being constructed for Americans who are being forced to worship it, and make sacrifices unto it.

"All small and great, rich and poor," must sacrifice for the creation of this new change... Remember Obama, declaring that all Americans must sacrifice for his image of change? The change is a lie, the image of a beast! We are now changing America into a modern beast of Babylon, by the use of our own right hand works, and our money being robbed. This has been made possible through calculated lies planted within our own foreheads or deceived minds.

What kind of evil beast has entered over half of America's foreheads, or intellects, and caused them to vote for the institution of their own slavery? Millions of votes were recently cast against a free America? It was surely an evil beast which deceived their minds through calculated lies orchestrated from the politically correct media.

The mark of America's power comes directly from which votes are being marked, the peoples right handed works represent their spiritual mindset inside their foreheads. A mark represents a goal, or end destination like a map. There are two marks from the Bibles beginning, the tree of life, and the tree of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. God's true followers were to be marked by him in their foreheads and right hands, according to John. Revelation 22:4. Was Jesus going to use computer implants also? The mark of God, and the mark of Satan both represent a spiritual identification witnessed through the person's spiritual mindset, and also by our outward behavior manifesting through our right handed works. Who do we serve? Babylon represents Satan's government of slavery, and Zion represents Christ's free form of government.

Which mindset are we being marked into, becomes the final question?
We must awaken Christians to this big lie being spread by Left behind books. Why? These popular books focus Christians on doomsday instead of helping God unite his servants to work the final harvest. There is a reason Christ never wanted us to know the day, nor the hour of his coming. Look at Waco Texas and David Koresh? Look at our last two elections when 4 to 5 million Christians stayed home. Look at the bad fruits coming from the teachings being spread from the most popular Christian book sold today, Left behind! These teachings do far more good for Satan by neutralizing Christian's spiritual resolve, than anything the media has yet accomplished. I need your help to challenge this doomsday theology before it becomes a bigger monster in 2012.

Please help get this new biblical understanding to as many Christians as possible. Why? They have become deceived by thousands of money grabbing preachers who have downloaded the wrong understanding of the mark of the beast into their foreheads! These deceived Christians are still waiting for a computer chip implant to bring in the rapture. This is happening when the mark of slavery is already coming upon them. Watch the online video from start to finish, and understand the basis behind Babylon's mark for today.. Clickhttp://www.

America's oldest living Medal of Honor recipient, living his 100th year is former enlisted Chief Petty Officer, Aviation Chief Ordnanceman (ACOM), later wartime commissioned Lieutenant John W. Finn, USN (Ret.). He is also the last surviving Medal of Honor, "The Day of Infamy", Japanese Attack on the Hawaiian Islands, Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, 7 December 1941.

'Navy Centenarian Sailor', 103 year old, former enlisted Chief Petty Officer, Aviation Chief Radioman (ACRM, Combat Aircrewman), later wartime commissioned Chief Warrant Officer Julio 'Jay' Ereneta, U. S. Navy (Ret.) is a thirty year career veteran of World War One and World War Two. He first flew aircrewman in August 1922; flew rearseat radioman/gunner in the 1920s/1930s air squadrons of the Navy's first aircraft carriers, USS LANGLEY (CV-1) and USS LEXINGTON (CV-2).